Litter bed



July 6, 1954 Q D, CRUMP 2,682,670

I LITTER BED Filed Sept. 2l, 1950 /4 INVENTOR c. 0. CMM/5 ATTORNEYS Patented July 6, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE* 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to litters and, more particularly, to a litter that is adaptable for use as a bed.

. Heretofore, litters have been used almost exclusively for moving injured persons from the scene of an accident to another location, such as a hospital, where the injured person is transferred to a bed. In cases of great emergency the hospital facilities will be taxed to the utmost and it is doubtful if the hospitals, due to their limited facilities, will be able to accommodate large numbers of persons.

The principal object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a litter which can be used to transfer injured persons from one location to another and which can also be used as a bed when the injured have reached the place where they are to receive medical attention.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination litter and bed which can be stored in a limited space.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel litter-bed which can be assembled in a very short time.

Another object of the invention is to provided* a litter-bed so constructed and arranged that a more efficient distribution of weight is obtained due to the placement vof handles beneath the litter-bed rather than at the longitudinal side edges.

Other objects and features of novelty'of the invention will be made apparent by the following description and drawings which, it will be understood, are only illustrative of the invention and impose no limitations thereon not imposed by the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar reference numerals refer to like parts,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the present invention;

Fig. 2is a partial, enlarged sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, and showing in section, a portion of one of the cross-braces.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the novel litter-bed of the present invention is illustrated therein as including an inflatable body 2 of suitable material, such as plastic or rubber, provided with a valve stem l throughy which air, carbon dioxide or other suitable gas is introduced in order to inflate the body. The body 2 may comprise a single member or, as disclosed in Fig. 2, may comprise several small sections which may be fastened together by suitable means such as snap fasteners 5, the body or sections preferably having seams extending transversely thereof to provide a series of connected air receiving spaces within the body or sections.

Means are provided for covering the inflatable body, which means comprises a cover 6, of canvas, duck or other suitable material, for the upper surface, side and end walls of the inflatable body and a cover 8 for the lower surface thereof. The upper cover 6 is provided with flap portions l which cover the side walls of the body and other nap portions I2 which cover the end walls thereof. One of the side flaps I0 is provided with openings I I through which the valve stem ll projects.

New and novel means are provided by the invention for forming pockets which receive the longitudinally extending, removable handles with which the litter-bed is lifted. Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the lower extremities of the side naps I0 adjacent the bottom edges of the side walls of the inflatable body extend away from the body and are then returned toward the side walls to form U-shaped pockets vhi. The bottom cover 8 is also bent back upon itself adjacent its side edges to form U-shaped portions It which are respectively received within the pockets Id and fastened therein by stitching, staples or the like; The ends of the side edges of the cover 3 are then attached to the body portion of the cover 8' in such a manner that a loose, depending portion I8 extending the length of the cover is provided within which handles 2li are received,see Fig. 2. It will thus be seen that the handles 2t extend throughout the length of the litter-bed and are disposed beneath 'the litterbed adjacent the side edges thereof. This construction enables the litter-bed to be more efficiently handled when in use.

In order to provide greater stability for the litter-bed, cross-braces 22 are connected to the longitudinally extending handles by a novel arrangement. As shown, see Figs. 1 and 3, such arrangement comprises resilientsockets 24 for the reception of opposite ends of the cross-brace 22. Straps 25 and 28 are suitably secured to the closed ends of the sockets 24, and the free ends of the straps are provided respectively with male and female parts of a snap fastener 30 or other suitable fastening means, the straps being adapted to encircle one of the handles 2E and tightly engage the same. Preferably, ends 3i of the sockets 24 are rounded so as to firmly abut the handles 2li when the ends of the straps 2G and 23 are secured together as illustrated in Fig. 3. By the provision of this novel socket construction, the litter-bed may be quickly assembled as it would require a very short time to slip the cross-brace into the sockets and then fasten the sockets to the adjacent handles.

It Will be understood from the'foregoing that when the litter-bed is stored, the handles 20 and the cross-braces 22 are removed. Thereafter, the body 2 is deflated so that the litter may be rolled up to occupy an exceedingly small space. In operation, it is only necessary to inflate the body 2 to the desired pressure and to thereafter project the handles 20 through the pockets formed by the depending portions I8. As soon as the cross-braces 22 have been assembled in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the litter is ready for use. It will also be understood that after the injured person has been moved to shelter, the handles 20 and the cross-braces 22 are readily removable so that the body 2- is used as a bed. Thus it will be unnecessary to move the injured person from the litter to a hospital bed for treatment. The construction also offers the advantage that the handles 20 and the cross-braces 22 may be used in association with another inatable body.

The present invention, therefore, provides a litter which can be used for a bed and also a combination litter-bed Which can be stored in a very small space when it is in its deflated condition. There is also provided a litter-bed having removable handles Which permits the use of a single set of handles for a large number of the litterbeds. There is also provided a litter-bed which can be quickly and easily assembled and Which has great strength through the provision of crossbracesl which may be quickltr applied.

While one form which the invention may take has been described and illustrated, it Will be apparent i-,o those skilled in the art that other embodiments, as Well as modifications thereof, may be made Without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, for the limits of which reference must be had to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A litter-bed comprising an inflatable body having side and end Walls, a top and a bottom, a cover on the upper surface of the body having depending naps for the side and end Walls thereof, a bottom cover on the body, the ends of the aps adjacent the side Walls extending outwardly from the bottom edge of the side Walls and back toward the side Walls to form pockets extending the length of the side Walls, the side edges of the bottom cover being returned upon themselves to provide edge portions which are received in said pockets and attached therein to form seams extending throughout the length of the body, the ends of the side edges of the bottom cover being attached to the under surface of the bottom cover along lines spaced from said seams to form a pair of longitudinally extending pockets beneath the inflatable body and adjacent the side Walls thereof, and a handle extending throughout each of said last named pockets.

2. A litter-'bed in accordance with claim 1 comprising, in addition, a cross-brace at each end of the body, and means attaching said cross-braces to said handles comprising resilient sockets receiving opposite ends of each cross-brace, and strap means attached to each socket releasably securing each socket and cross brace to the handles.

3. A litter-bed in accordance with claim 2 in Which each socket is rounded at one end thereof to closely abut the associated handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Y Name Date 370,063 Judson Sept. 20, 1887 684,276 Lonergan Oct. 8, 1901 688,185 Luria Dec. 3, 1901 1,275,306 Rosenshine Aug. 13, 1918 1,602,115 Malls Oct. 5, 1926 1,746,709 Marshall Feb. 11, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 297,760 Great Britain Sept. 27, 1928 

